.jpeg)
Articles
Why You Should Be More Excited About Serving the Great God Than You Were About “The Great American Eclipse”
On April 8th of 2024 we experienced what became known as “the Great American Eclipse.” It was something incredible to see, especially those who experienced totality. Where I was experienced a 95% eclipse, and it was truly something worth observing. This eclipse was something that generated excitement for years leading up to it. People drove for hundreds and some even thousands of miles to make sure they were in the path of totality. Social media was full of pictures of where people were when they experienced the eclipse. There were posts by christians discussing how excited we should be as to experience the eclipse. There was nothing wrong with being excited about the eclipse, it was exciting. There was nothing wrong with travelling to see the phenomenon, there will not be another one across the U.S. of this magnitude till August of 2045. There was nothing wrong with posting pictures on social media of observing the eclipse. Then what is the problem? Why even mention the eclipse? The Problem: People seemed more excited about “The Great American Eclipse” Than Serving “The great God, mighty and awesome…” (Deuteronomy 10:17). Consider for a few moments why we should be more excited about serving God than seeing an eclipse.
He is the Creator of the World
The Bible opens with this statement, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). Isaiah writes, “Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: “I am the Lord, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself…” (Isaiah 44:24). The reason we the eclipse even took place is because of God creating the world, the sun, the moon, and how He made them to function. God made everything we see around us, how great and awesome is He.
He Loves Us
One of the most well-known passages in all the Bible is John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” The reason Christ died for us, more about this in a moment, is because of the love of God. God is love (1 John 4:9). His is greater than any love man has ever shown.
He Gave His Son For Us
In Romans 5:6-11 it reads, “6 For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. 10 For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. 11 And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.” The love of God we previously discussed is demonstrated in the sacrifice of Christ. While we were still enemies, God sent His Son to die so that we could be reconciled to Him. Without God giving us His Son, we would still be enemies and condemned for all eternity.
Our Reaction:
Since God created the world, has shown great love toward us, and gave His Son for us, how should we react?
- We Should Love Him – “We love Him because He first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). When we see the great love God has for us, it should cause us to love Him in return.
- We Keep His Commandments – If we truly love God, we will follow His will (John 14:15).
- We Serve Him With All Our Heart – In Deuteronomy 10 Moses is discussing what God required of Israel. One of those requirements is, “To serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” (Deuteronomy 10:12a). We cannot serve God half-heartedly, but with full and wholehearted devotion.
- We Should Be Glad to Worship Him – When we see the greatness of God is should not just compel us to love Him, keep His commandments, and serve Him, but to be glad to serve Him. The Psalmist writes in Psalm 122:1, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us go into the house of the LORD.” This should be our attitude. We cannot view serving God as a burden (Malachi 1:8-13) but as the privilege it is. Not everyone can worship God and be heard (John 9:31), but as His children he hears us and in this we should rejoice.
Conclusion
The “Great American Eclipse” was something impressive and exciting to see. However, our excitement for the eclipse should not surpass our excitement for serving the great, mighty, and awesome God. When we consider everything He has done, it should cause us to gladly serve Him. Our service to Him should be the most important thing in our life (Matthew 6:33) and be something we give our all to (Deuteronomy 10:12).
